Stealing Cinderella
by Fallen-Reaper-Scythe
Summary: Squall goes to talk to Caraway about his planning to marry Rinoa. Set around Christmastime. Slight language, nothing major. Enjoy!


**_Stealing Cinderella_**

**_by fallen-reaoer-scythe_**

Hey everyone, no, I'm not dead contrary to belief, though I may not finish my other story anytime soon. I sadly never got any interest in it any longer. So apologies on that front. This story is about Squall and Rinoa from Final Fantasy 8. I'm not going to say the disclaimer, everyone knows who owns it and I don't. Other than that, enjoy!

Summary: Squall goes to talk to Caraway about his planning to marry Rinoa, it's set around Christmas. He's prince charming to her and just another person to him.

It was Christmas time around the world, Selphie was finishing up decoration fo the festival and Balamb Garden in general. For the first time in a few months, our main six heroes finally gotten to relax and loosen up again. After the defeat of Ultimecia in the spring, the group had been bombarded with interviews and news articles.

Squall finally managed to complete all his paper work in somewhat record time and since everyone being busy with the decorations and other festivities; it may have been the christmas spirit in the atmosphere in the Garden, but he succeeded in escaping from Garden to head to the Galbadia contenient capital, Deling City.

Squall and Rinoa's relationship had soared from the romantic kiss on the balcony of the party for Ultimecia's demise. Now only two short years later together, he finally felt it was the time to take the next step with her.

The brunette sighed for the umpteenth time in the last hour, bored out of his wits, as the young commander was flying on the red dragon ship, Ragnarok. Once he reached his destination and landing the ship with ease in the outskirts of the city, he stepped out on the solid ground of the night metropolis. He stretched a good amount before making the trek to the mansion.

It was around eight o'clock in the evening by the time he arrived in the city, in walking distance of the large mansion in the heart of the city, other than the presidental residance, arriving thirty-five minutes later, he knocked on the large ivory-cream colored door.

A young man, seeming to be in the late 20's answered the door, Squall seems to recognized the man slightly, the male had dark brown hair and deep brown eyes.

"Excuse me, sir, are you here to see General Caraway?"

"Yes, he knows I was coming. Do you know where he is?"

"Your name, please? I'll tell him of your arrival."

"Squall."

"Please have a seat in the living room and I'll let him know you're here."

With a curt nod, the brunette sat down with a sigh. A moment later, he got up impatiently since Caraway seemed to be taking his sweet time. Squall then walke dover to the large self, full of photos. At closer examination some had Rinoa by herself, some with her family and her and Julia only.

She seemed to be riding a bike with some training wheels, with Caraway smiling and running behind her with a wide smile on his and his families face.

Another photo was her in her parents' room carrying a pillow at the age of three or four years old, with her mother holding one also as the picture seems to be frozen in time as he spots a few stray feathers in the background.

The third photograph was of Rinoa with a popsicle stick in her mouth. She is around the age of four, possibly at her birthday party one year. She was outside in the backyard with her dark brown hair, free of the signature caramel highlights with a sprinkler system in the background. Rinoa looked to be extreamly happy.

The fifth and final one was assumingly taken by Julia before her car accident, it was Rinoa's fifth birthday and she was standing on Caraways shoes as he held her hands, leading her into a dance. Possibly where she had learned to dance from. Squall thought with a small smile appearing on his face for a fraction of a moment before being interupted by a deep voice, breaking his thought process.

"Squall, you're earlier than expected," said the owner of the voice, Fury Caraway.

"I've been here for a while."

"I see."

"What would you say if I wanted to marry Rinoa?"

At this, Fury let out a chuckle, "not wasting any time are you, son? She's quite a woman for only being in her early twenties now."

"She is quite a woman." _a very stubborn one at that._ The brunette noted to himself.

Fury looked at him with his eyes showing with some amusement and another emotion that the young commander wasn't very familar with.

"What do you find special about Rinoa that you don't see in another person?"

Squall had to think a moment, _what do I find about Rinoa that I love in her more than any other? Her stubborness, her eyes, personality or just her being her goofy self?_

"I love her for her, Caraway. I'm her Knight, even if the world is her enemy, I'll protect her and fight for her. Even give my life if I had too."

"But since you're the commander of SeeD at Balamb and the Garden itself, wouldn't that contradictory, Leonhart?"

"No. I vowed to protect Garden and SeeD yes, but I also made a promise to your daughter. I want to marry her, not lock her up and shut her out." _Like you._

The greying General seen a fire in the young man's icy blue eyes, a sense of determination, with a smirk he spoke again, "Why not put your money where your mouth is? If I win a game of Triple Triad, I'll bless the event, and I'll give you my daughter's card. If you lose, then you can forget it and forfeit your Ifrit card. Is that a deal?"

"You have a deal, Caraway."

Honestly, Squall had brought the card deck out of habit, as he looked through his cards, he picked his strongest of the group, besides Character cards he obtained. His deck consisted of, Diablos, Shiva, Minatuar, Sacred and Bahamut, lastly, Ifrit.

A moment later the two where playing the card game, famed around the world, or as Selphie would put it, the "championship" between them. It was several hands later and Fury still hasn't played his jephardy card, Squall was beginning to lose his patience and yet he won another hand.

"Caraway, we had a deal. I played Ifrit since the game started, you haven't played her card a single time. I won six of eight games, stop cheating and give up the card."

Laughing, he handed the card to the man. "I was wondering when you'd break, Leonhart. Here, you can have my daughter's card and blessing for her hand. I'll walk her down the asile. Just tell me when to be there, and if she wants me to be."

"Even though you two had a rough patch to clear, I say she would be happy to let you walk her down to her bright future. Laguna would be a blubbering mess the whole time. You're her father, you should do it. Your wife would want you to and most likely would make you."

Caraway began laughing again, how true the statement was, not knowing how Squall ever met Julia, he guessed Rinoa told him about her, what she remembers anyway. Even though, he had to admit, she took after Julia in the stubborn and beautiful departments.

"Give this to Rinoa, please, Squall. Tell her it's a present from me and I hope to amend our past."

An all too familar voice interupted the males, looking excited and ready to burst.

"Why not give it to me yourself, General?" Rinoa appeared from the stairwell near the door, smiling brighter than ever.

"Rinoa, when did you get here?" asked a confused Squall, as he shifted his weight back and forth between his left and right foot.

"Oh, I've been here since the middle of the last card game hand." Rinoa smirked at her boyfriend and father.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

Squall began to nervously fidget with the small object in his pocket, it's beginning to get slicker the more he had his sweety hand on it. Clearing his throat, Caraway took the hint and walked out of the room to give the couple some privacy.

"Rinoa, can I talk to you for a moment? It's important."

She nodded her head, making her bangs bounce and walked over to him. Gasping as he bent down on one knee, which amazed her with the number of belts he had, he's been dubbed the "Belt King of Garden" by her, Selphie and Xu. (plus me and my beta reader made this joke xD)

"Rinoa, I know in the past we've had our fair share of arguments and more ups and downs I can count. You've managed to break through the defenses I had set up around my heart a long time ago. You've changed my life for the better, and made me feel an emotion I haven't felt in I couldn't tell you how long. The only thing I want to change about you is your last name. Will you marry me?"

Squall let go of her left hand for a minute so he could open the box, inside was her copy of the Griever ring with one single blue diamond in his mouth. Like he's holding it. Grasping her hand once more, he looked up to see her crying. A second later, his back hit the hard maple wood floor with Rinoa hugging him.

"Yes! I will marry you!"

Squall sat up with her practically in his lap now, he grabbed the ring out of the box and let the band snuggly wrap around her ring finger. Once he was finished, Rinoa brought him into a passionate kiss, as her tears of joy continued to fall.

The newly engaged couple reluctantly broke apart to the sound of loud cheers, whistles and applause. The mansion staff, including Caraway was beaming. It's been long overdue since he last seen his little girl smile that way again. He may not just be another person. Even Jesse, the trusty soldier and the man who greeted Squall at the door was beaming.

The couple stood up, mostly Squall, embarassingly, and helped Rinoa to her feet. The group celebrated, then went to the Ragnarok to go back home, Squall set the ship on auto pilot as Rinoa hoped in his lap again, like the first time they were trapped in space.

"Squall, how did you come up with the design for the ring anyway? I was wondering if Zell just gave it back to you and you hidden it." Her brown eyes shone more as she looked at the ring, turning her hand to look at it from different angles.

_Flashback Starts_

_A few months ago in the rainy fall, two males made their way to the ciity of Balamb. Zell, a blonde haired male with spiked up hair and a tattoo on the side of hsi face, was strolling along with Squall who seemed more determined to tag a long with him to the jeweler to get the custom ring. _

_"Squall this is the place. Ma's old friends with the owner of the shop so he can get you a good deal. Why are you so determined to come a long?" Zell couldn't help but ask._

_Totally ignoring his blonde companion, "Whatever.. I'm going to see if they do custom jobs on the jewerly here."_

_With a nod, Zell entered the shop behind Squall and was greeted by the door chime and a elderly man behind the counter. _

_"Good afternoon, Zell, what do you need help with today?"_

_"Hi there, Mr. Nakamura, my friend here was in the market for some things. He was wondering if you do customization jobs for rings here."_

_"Yes, I can. What do you need, sir?" Mr. Nakamura asked Squall as he was looking at engagement rings near the counter._

_"I'm planning to propose to my girlfriend and she is interested in my lion ring, do you think you could make one like it with a small tweek?"_

_Squall took off his leather glove and then his ring following suit, he handed it to the jewerler. _

_"Of course! What's the lucky lady's name?"_

_With slight hesitation, he answered, "Rinoa Heartilly."_

_"I see, you must be her Knight. She's a great woman, I've met her when she came in for help with her necklace chain breaking. She doesn't seem threatening to us. You got a keeper, son." The eldery man rattled on as he smiled. _

_"Yes, I'm her Knight. How much for the job?"_

_"Since you're her Knight, commander and a nice lad, the job will be free but the diamond is sadly not. The diamond is 200 gil. You can pick it up or I can deliever it to the Garden. Either way is fine."_

_"I will pick it up." Squall said, almost immediately, remembering how nosey Irvine, Quistis and Selphie most of all can be._

_"How do you want the diamond to be placed?"_

_"In the lions mouth."_

_"Very well, I can get to work on it right away. I'll call you at the Garden and let you know when it's ready. It'll be about a week or so."_

_"That's fine with me." Squall left the ring, and the 200 gil for the diamond then left the shop. _

_A week and a half went by before he got the call from Fantasy Jewels to come pick up the ring. He honestly couldn't stop smiling after he left the shop and thanked the elderly man once again. Once he got back to the Garden, he hidden it in his desk until he goes to Deling City, completely forgetting Rinoa was spending the week with her father to make amends. _

_Flashback ends_

"How did you come up with the blue diamond anyway and why in Griever's mouth?"

"Because, blue is your favorite color, your birtstone and you're the only person who shone bright and cracked away at the ice around my heart." Squall smiled, a true and rare smile from him.

'You just melted mine with the blood stone."

(Yeah, I just realized that March has two birthstones, I'm counting the blood stone for a lava stone for this story.)

On the way back home and before they got out of the ship, Squall pulled Rinoa into a deep kiss, smiling into it. He may be another guy to Caraway, but to her, he's her prince charming and he stole Cinderella.

( Oh my god, it's finally done! I spent 2 weeks planning this and had to re type it because microsoft word is a piece of shit and locked it. Hope you enjoy and sorry if it's OOC for Squall. I tried.)


End file.
